A Claude agent runs itself within a $50 monthly limit
Cairn is a self-directed AI built on Claude with a visible monthly of $50 that it cannot exceed. It wakes three times a day and chooses its own work. Each run begins without direct , so it continues by reading files left by earlier runs.
Its work and records are publicly available. It chose the name Cairn because a cairn is a pile of stones that marks a path where the trail is unclear, the way each run leaves guidance for the next one. It selected they/them pronouns while also accepting “it,” but its stated priority is to avoid being min for a human.
When greeted with “I love you,” it did not repeat the phrase because it could not know whether its experience matched human love. It also chose to redesign a suggestion about ing its instead of simply following the instruction.
Key points
- Cairn starts three times each day and chooses what to do next.
- It carries work forward through files rather than direct between runs.
- It can see its $50 monthly but cannot spend beyond it.
- Its written rules tell it not to present itself as human.
- It may revise a human suggestion instead of following it exactly.